Promoters say the Mountain Valley Pipeline would be a safe, environmentally friendly economic asset developed after thoughtful dialogue.

If only this were true.

The huge, 42-inch pipeline — more than twice the size of existing transmission pipelines — would carry explosive natural gas under enormous pressure. Pipeline failure would leave a blast zone of total incineration about 1,000 feet wide on each side. Yet the company proposes to build it within 65 feet of an occupied home in the Newport community of Giles County. And the evacuation zone would be at least 3,600 feet wide on each side. The company would use the power of federal eminent domain to cross private property of families that have held it for generations.

If safety is the highest priority, why did the company choose a route composed of steep landslide-prone slopes and karst — land full of caves and underground waterways that could form new sinkholes and cause complete failure of the pipeline? The two major transmission pipelines that currently supply our region with plenty of natural gas follow existing roadways, railways and utility lines, generally paralleling Interstate 81 and Interstate 77.

A 10-inch pipeline built three years ago on the same mountain contaminated the public water supply on the West Virginia side and continues to have erosion problems in both Virginia and West Virginia. Why would a 42-inch pipeline be less damaging?

The pipeline’s own consulting company concluded that the project would send tons of new sediment down the Roanoke River “until [it] is arrested behind the first dam (i.e., Niagara Dam) or is deposited into Smith Mountain Lake." Much of the Roanoke River is officially impaired already due to high sediment loads, so new sediment would increase stormwater fees for everyone on its path, paid by local landowners, not by the pipeline company.

The “ongoing dialogues” promised by the company have not included the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club (RATC) or the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), despite direction from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In fact, the company has not contacted RATC at all in over a year despite our numerous and detailed comments and questions. The planning was so careless that the company used an outdated map of the AT and actually proposes to run one of its permanent access roads right on the Trail.

Separate studies by the ATC and RATC show that the pipeline’s 125-foot swath would be visible off and on for almost 75 miles of the AT. Instead of working with volunteers and staff familiar with the AT, the pipeline company hired an out of town firm that ignored locations where the project would be visible. A good example is at Kelly Knob in Giles County. Working with a highly reputable local firm, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) created simulations showing that the pipeline’s route would be highly visible from Kelly Knob, first as it ascends Sinking Creek Mountain and again as it climbs through the Brush Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area. Yet MVP has never found this location. Their first attempt, published in February 2017, was taken in foggy conditions. It is hard to believe that the company is making a good faith effort when they produce such slipshod results.

The conservative, mostly Republican county boards of supervisors in Giles, Craig, Montgomery and Roanoke counties all oppose this pipeline. So do the staid Blue Ridge Land Conservancy and Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, groups that rarely take positions on such issues. As do dozens of landowner groups and all environmental organizations.

So who wants the pipeline? Mostly its owners, whose “customers” are actually its own subsidiaries.

Another partner, WGL Midstream, has contracts to export natural gas to India, according to the June 25, 2015 issue of The Roanoke Times.

Consolidated Edison is a New York utility whose own state has banned fracking for natural gas and whose state government has stopped two FERC-approved gas pipelines due to concerns about threats to public drinking water and the environment. In essence, Virginia would become a pipeline colony for New York.

For more information about this misguided project and how you can help protect the Appalachian Trail and its surrounding communities, visit AppalachianTrail.org/MVP.

About Diana Christopulos
Diana Christopulos and her partner Mark McClain retired to Salem, Virginia, in 2003. Diana joined the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club (RATC) even before their furniture had arrived and went on her first club hike few days after they closed on their house. Diana now serves as president of both the RATC and the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition. She holds degrees from Cornell University and Binghamton University.

During her paid working life, she owned a management consulting business, waited tables, washed dishes, taught college history, ran a corporate human resources department and worked for tips as a whitewater rafting guide on the Green River in Utah and the Rio Grande in Texas. Since her retirement in 2003, she has completed a hike of the Appalachian Trail and drafted a novel about the experience. She serves on the boards of the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy and the Council of Community Services and is past president of the Greater Roanoke Valley Asthma and Air Quality Coalition. A native of Wyoming, Diana has always enjoyed playing outside. She and Mark have canoed thousands of miles of American rivers. They still live in Salem, Virginia.

4 comments

There seems to be no reason to infringe on the beauty and wildness of the AT other than the greed of the fossil fuel industry to make money.As a section hiker you can't risk what the AT represents.

Heidi |Oct 14, 2017

Thank you Diana for posting this. I just now saw it and, just after purchasing a property in Warren County. yesterday. I'm coming from MA and know little about the environmental concerns in the area. I asked 3 times for a well report and finally got it on the day of closing. All they tested for was E. coli and chlorine! The more I learn about the history of Front Royal and the gigantic EPA settlements concerning the polluted waters and now this, the more I'm wondering if I made a grave mistake in buying property.

Just found this in yesterday's news too.... Friday the 13th takes on a whole new dimension. Yikes.

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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy's mission is to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail - ensuring that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow, and for centuries to come.